trancejeremy said:
Starter pack = $20 - 16 figures (1 rare, 5 uncommon, 10 common)
Booster pack = $10 - 8 figures (1 rare, 3 uncommon, 4 common)
For Mage Knight, I think they are now about $7-8 for 4 or 5 figures. So it's a pretty good deal compared to that.
On the down side, the figure selection really sucks. There are only 80 figures, and the distribution is wonky.
27 rare, 33 uncommon, 20 common.
Okay, distribution is not particularly wonky, I think you just don't understand how the packaging method interacts with the # of figures.
For every individual rare you get, you'll pick up 27*3/33= 2.45 of each uncommon figure, and 5.4 of each common figure.
Because of the 3 uncommons & 4 commons in each pack, fewer common figures makes the gap between uncommons & commons different to how it might appear.
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MageKnight Rebellion had 176 figures. But did it? With the multiple rarity system, it actually only had 64 different figures - fewer than the initial release of the D&D Miniature line!
(Whirlwind had only 54 different sculpts).
Personally, the fewer individual miniatures in a set, the more likelihood that you can get the one that you want - thus the 60 miniatures in later D&D releases sounds good to me.
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80 sculpts in the initial release, 60 more to come shortly thereafter. That's a pretty big range, when all is said and done.
Now consider how difficult it would for your FLGS to stock 140 different miniatures (there's no space in mine), and how well each would sell... the risk is actually quite high, causing a markup on the prices.
Random packaging allows both a large range and low prices - the two don't otherwise go together.
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JoeGKushner: From the shots we've seen, I think my biggest worry is that there are too many characters.
The problem is that it doesn't take rarity into consideration. As I recall, most of the characters and large figures are Rare; you're far more likely to get goblins and orcs (or generic warriors) figures than a unique elf wizard.
JoeGKushner: I need mind flayers, beholders, carrion carwlers, ogres, hill giants, fire giants and other big or hard to find figures. I've probably got about six mind flayers but those are form years of collecting and only about three of 'em look anywhere decent.
This line won't be for you, then. For the most part, it will likely concentrate on common threats faced by PCs, with the more uncommon ones ending up as rares. Big figures are a problem, just because of packaging.
An Ogre has to be rare just because of its size, alas! One drawback of random packaging is that the miniatures have to fit in the box - and several large figures wouldn't fit.
I'm hoping we'll see some giants, or special sets of figures that include more big ones... I just picked up a Chainmail Ogre because I know that the D&D ones are likely to be difficult to acquire.
Set List
(Numbering is not official, this is taken from this thread on the Wizards boards:
D&D Miniatures board
1.Dire Boar
2.Umber Hulk
3.Azer Raider
4.Wraith
5.Skeleton
6.Mummy
7.Displacer Beast
8.Mindflayer
9.Ogre
10.Medusa
11.Owlbear
12.Centaur
13.Minotaur
14.Troll
15.Earth Elemental
16.Fire Elemental
17.Troglodyte
18.Ghoul
19.Werewolf
20.Hound Archon
21.Wight
22.Lizardman
23.Kou-toa
24.Wolf
25.Hell Hound/Krenshar?
26.Orc/Bugbear Archer?
27.Eye of Grummsch
28.Goblin Sneak
29.Drow Priestess
30.Orc Berserker
31.Drow Ranger?
32.Black Guard
33.Bard
34.Halfling/Gnome Druid?
35.Monk (Ember)
36.Elven Wizard (Mialee)
37.Half Orc Berserker (Krusk)
38.Huge Human Fighter?
39.Executioner?
40.Human Wizard?
41.Arcane Archer
42.Axe Sister
43.Cleric of Larethian
44.Cleric of Order
45.Cleric of Yondalla
46.Dwarf Axe Fighter
47.Elf Archer
48.Elf Pyromancer
49.Elf Ranger
50.Evoker's Apprentice
51.Gnome Recruit
52.Half Orc Fighter
53.Half Orc Monk
54.Halfing Veteran
55.Human Wanderer
56.Man at Arms
57.Sun Soul Initiate
58.Sword of Heironeus
59.Tiefling Captain
60.Wild Elf Barbarian
61.Wood Elf Skirmisher
62.Human Cleric (Jozan)
63.Kobold
64.Dwarf Warrior
65.Orc with spear? (behind half orc fighter first gamma picture)
66.Orc with sword? (behind half orc fighter first gamma picture)
67.Human commoner? (behind half Mialee first gamma picture)
68.Barghest
69.Bearded Devil
70.Grell
71.Wolf Skeleton
72.Half Orc Assassin
Gaming report have more miniature pics
"We did get a starter box of the new D&D figures which we took some pictures of below. The figures are very different from WizKids. They are made of very springy plastic. This is designed to allow them to be dropped, stepped on, and worse without any breakage." - gaming report
here
Cheers!
